Bathing accessory



.July 26, 1960 c. w. CALDWELL 2,946,074

' BATHING ACCESSORY Filed Feb. 11, 1959 IVENTORI CHARLES w. CALDWELL AGENT tm o United States Pttttlt O BATHING ACCESSORY Charles W. Caldwell, 261 Mulberry St., New York, N.Y.

Filed Feb. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 792,513

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-122) This invention relates in general to bathing accessories and, more particularly, to combination soap holding bath Sponges and scrubbing brushes.

An object of this invention is to provide a bathing accessory that is more versatile in that it may be-used as a scrubbing brush, a shampoo brush, a soap containing sponge, a plain sponge, a back brush, or a soap holder.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bathing accessory of many alternate uses which is uncomplicated in its construction and manufacture.

A further object of this invention is to provide a unique bathing accessory with few interconnected parts which is less expensive to manufacture and which may be put to a wider variety of uses.

Additional objects, advantages, and features of in'vention will become apparent from the particular construction and combination of parts in'volved in the embodiment of the invention and its practice otherwise as will be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side View of my invention with a portion broken from the length of the handle;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the length of the bathing accessory with the end of the handle broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3 in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a section taken as in Fig. 3 with the cake of soap removed;

Fig. 5 is a bottom View of a ybroken away part of the container;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a single sponge element which forms a part of my invention; and

Fig. 7 is a plan View of two sponge elements which may be used to form a modification of my invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the bathing' accessory consists of a container 10 of polystyrene or a like flexible material. This container 10 has a bottom wall 11 and the low side walls 12, 13, 14, and 15. Extending downward from the bottom Wall 11 are the brush elements 17 which are formed integrally with it. As is further shown in Fig. 5, small apertures 16 are formed between the brush elements 17 in the bottom wall 11.

Fig. 6 shows a sponge element 20 having a wide base 21 and a longer securing strip 22. The small rectangular apertures 23, Z4, and 25 are punched or cut out of the sponge element 20. The manner of assembly of the bathing accessory may be seen in Figs. 2 and 3. A at handle 18, having a curved-end grip 19, is inserted through an aperture 27 formed in the side wall 15. Then the handle is thrust through the aperture 23 in the securing strip 22 and through the aperture 25 in the base 21. The sponge element thus forms a loop. The handle is thrust further inward to pass through the aperture 24 and the aperture 26 in the side wall 13. The handle passes over the base 21 to hold it down and secure it firmly in place. This handle 18 is secured in the container 10 by the notch 28 which is formed across the top of its front portion. The base 21 forces the handle upward to hold the wall 13 within this notch. Also, since the container 2,946,07 4 Paftepted Julyv 26,1960

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. v 2 10 is formed of slightly exible material, the aperture 26 may be expanded by the passage of the handle and then close into the notch to further secure it. Y

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, after assembly, a cake of soap 36 is slipped into the bathing accessory on the base 21 and partially into the container 10. The base 21 extends over the side walls 12 and 14 on either side of the soap while the securing strip holds it in place. Fig. 7 shows a slight modification of the invention wherein asecuring strip 30 and a base 31- are separate pieces having the apertures 32, 33, 34, and 35 formed in them. This modification of the invention is assembled by thrusting the handle'lS through one wall of thecontainer, the aperture 33 in the. securing strip 30, the apertures 34 and 35'of the base 31,' the other aperture r32 in the securing strip 30, and into the opposite wall of the container as has been described.

This invention is used as follows. For shampooing hair, the cake of soap 36 is left in place and the entire bathing accessory is immersed in water. The hair may be soaped directly by rubbing the exposed corners 29 of the soap on the hair. Any slight motion of the soap relative to the base and the securing strip generates rich suds so that the securing strip itselfvmay be used as a soap containing sponge. If the hair and scalp is then scrubbed with the brush elements 17 suds will run through the apertures 16 and down the brush elements to directly contact the skin and result in a superior cleaning action. In the same manner when this bathing accessory is used to Wash pets, especially dogs with long thick hair, this factor is very important as it allows the soap to reach the skin where it is most needed. When medicated 'soap is used, this invention can better be used to apply it to the skin under the hair of a person or an animal.

As shown in Fig. 4 when the soap cake is removed, the bathing accessory is used as a bath sponge. Since the base extends over the side walls 12 and 14 and the securing strip collapses down to extend over the walls 13 and 15 and cover the handle between these walls, the top of the container presents a sponge surface only while the container itself serves as a convenient handle. When soap is replaced within the bathing accessory and it is stood upon the brush elements 17, excess water drains from the apertures 16 to allow the soap and the sponge elements to dry. If suds or soap solutions dry Within the sponge elements, the next use of the bathing accessory is more effective as the dissolvedV and dried soap in the Sponges makes new suds more rapidly.

The flat handle with the curved end has an advantage in that it may be further thrust through the container to bring the curved part next to the container leaving only a straight strip protruding from the other side. This makes the invention easier to pack in army barracks bags and the like.

The base and the retaining strip may be die cut from p suitable sheets of sponge stock, such as sponge rubber, synthetic sponge, or the like. One advantage lresulting from the use of the separate base and retaining strip, as shown in Fig. 7, is that sponge stock ofdifferent densities or porosities may be used to form each element. porous sponge could be used to form the base while a more elastic sponge could be used to form the retaining strip.

While I have disclosed my invention in the best form known to me, it will nevertheless be understood that this is purely exemplary and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, except as it may be more particularly limited in the appended claims wherein I claim:

l. A bathing accessory comprising, in combination, a

container having a bottom wall containing a number of small apertures, brush elements formed integrally with A more and extending downward Yfrom said bottom wall, and side walls containing opposite apertures; a sponge base extending over opposite side walls and containing apertures near each end; a handle thrust through the apertures in said side walls, through the apertures in said base, and passing over said base between the apertures in said base, said handle having means to secure it within Said container; and a sponge retaining strip extending from one of said apertured side walls to the other across said sponge base, means including the handle securing the end portions of said strip, whereby a cake of soap may be held between said strip and said base and partially within said container.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said handle is straight and flat and has a curved grip portion, and wherein the means to secure said handle within said container consists of a notch formed on top of said handle into which a portion of one of said side walls above the notch extends as said handle s forced upwards by said base.

3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said retaining strip is secured by said handle as said handle passes through an aperture disposed in each end of said retaining strip.

4. The combination according `to claim 2 wherein said retaining strip is formed from 'one end of said base and the otherv end of said retaining strip contains an aperture through which said handle passes.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,397,611 Bailey Nov. 22, 1921 1,741,962 Theodoropulos Dec. 31, 1929 1,928,111 Mednick Sept. 26, 1933 2,032,762 Mitchell Mar. 3, 193 

